Ruling on Giving Zakah to Relatives Other than Ancestors and Descendants
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Q181: The questioner asks: What is the ruling on giving zakah to a brother if he is poor and has no income, and likewise to the mother? Is zakah to the closest relatives better?
A181: The father and the son are not eligible to receive zakah, meaning: zakah is not permissible from one vertical line of kinship to the other. Therefore, the zakah of the son to the father is not valid, nor the zakah of the father to his son; because it is obligatory for each of them to provide for the needy among their children and parents, and they must not make zakah a substitute for maintenance. As for relatives other than ancestors and descendants, if they are in need, they are more deserving of zakah and more deserving of voluntary charity.
A181: The father and the son are not eligible to receive zakah, meaning: zakah is not permissible from one vertical line of kinship to the other. Therefore, the zakah of the son to the father is not valid, nor the zakah of the father to his son; because it is obligatory for each of them to provide for the needy among their children and parents, and they must not make zakah a substitute for maintenance. As for relatives other than ancestors and descendants, if they are in need, they are more deserving of zakah and more deserving of voluntary charity.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.